Talking Past Each Other
by Sarah1281
Summary: Loki, disguised as a simple soldier, returns to Asgard to tell the Allfather of his own death. Odin is cunning, though, and saw through it immediately. Or at least that's what Loki thinks happened.


Talking Past Each Other

Loki waited quietly as Odin absorbed the news that while there was no sign of Thor or Jane Foster a body had been found. This was a big moment, he knew, though the moment that was next was far more important. In the next moment he would turn upon the pretend father who had made clear his rejection and assume his place as Asgard's true king.

But for now he was going to see just what Odin's reaction to his death was. He didn't expect much. Thor might have claimed that they all mourned for him but Thor's grasp on reality was notoriously spotty and Loki hadn't detected an ounce of positive emotions directed his way by that man since his return. He even outright said that Frigga's pleading was the only reason he wasn't dead. And then Odin went and got her killed by keeping Jane Foster on Asgard when it was obvious that Malekith would target her.

Odin was quiet for a moment. "Loki."

Loki felt a smirk steal across his face. Well, he hadn't expected to be identified so soon but then again this wasn't Odin Allfather for nothing. "Yes, of course it's Loki. You didn't expect anything less, surely?"

"No, perhaps not," Odin admitted heavily. He sighed. "Still, I had hoped…"

"What, you had hoped that you could continue to control everything?" Loki asked mockingly. "Come, All-Father, you are not that naïve. You had to have known that after what had happened you could not go back."

Odin was growing angry. "I have just lost a queen and now a son…Was it so 'naïve' to think that perhaps this could put things into perspective? The centuries do tend to end all conflicts. The new ruler of Jotunheim doesn't even want me dead. But with Frigga…we have learned or perhaps just been reminded that even we do not have forever to come to terms."

"Her death had an impact, make no mistake," Loki said quietly. "But to think that it could just fix everything! No, perhaps your death could have fixed everything but not hers, never hers. Losing her was to remove the only one in this galaxy who may have had a chance to fix things. Oh, Thor may try whatever he said about giving up. He just doesn't have it in him to stop fighting and he never did. But that hope is gone now."

"And who are you to tell me this?" Odin demanded. "What right do you have to come in here and start lecturing me about my family?"

"Oh, none, I'm sure and I never did," Loki said smoothly, keeping a tight rein on his bitterness. Odin had never lied about the fact that Frigga was the one keeping him alive and it made sense that with her death Odin would start to give up any last vestige of having ever cared for Loki.

"No, you don't," Odin said icily.

"That's now what you said before but I think we all know by now what a liar you can be," Loki replied. "Was there ever, and I do mean ever for one single second, a chance that anyone but Thor would end up on your throne? Even when he got himself banished to Midgard for recklessly provoking another war the likes of which Asgard hadn't seen in centuries and leaving his brother to clean up the mess?"

Odin blinked, confused. "You come in here and start ranting about…and you wish to find out if Thor was always going to be on the throne?"

"It's always going to be at least a little bit about that," Loki admitted, hating that that was true.

He had finally come to a place where he could admit that, though. Part of him had always wanted the throne but it hadn't been because he actually wanted to be king though he would be forever convinced that he would have made a much better king than Thor. Maybe now that he was 'growing' or whatever he would one day make a good king (it wasn't as though they spent all that much time together anymore) but in the past he would have been a disaster and he had proven that handily enough on the day of the coronation. And lo and behold, Odin was still king to this day. What he had wanted more than anything was the chance to be acknowledged over Thor for once for what he was good at.

His entire life it had just been Thor and Thor's wonderful ability to drink and make merry and kill things. Sometimes it seemed as though nobody cared for anything but those three talents. Loki could kill just as well, albeit in a different way, but when he went out killing things people reacted badly. He refused to consider drinking a real talent and if he wanted to manipulate people into liking him he was quite capable of that. But planning ahead? Considering things beyond his own momentary impulses and desires? Solving problems and going after his goals in whatever way he had to? Those were his talents. Those would have made him a far better king than Thor's being everyone's best friend.

And yet it seemed like Odin didn't hesitate for a second when it came time to declare the clearly inferior candidate his successor. Even if he 'saw the potential for greatness' or however he wanted to phrase it, there was nothing stopping him from waiting until Thor started to realize an ounce of that potential! He had been strung around for centuries and Odin had always known. _That _was what he was objecting to.

"The time for debating that has long passed. After Midgard, how could things have possibly worked out like that?" Odin asked rhetorically.

Loki smiled coldly. "Thor's coronation was to be a year before then."

"And I saw what a mistake that was and the coronation didn't happen," Odin retorted. "How I choose to deal with the issue of succession is my own business and certainly none of yours."

"Oh, my mistake," Loki said sarcastically. "I should have known, never being in the order of succession myself no matter what some might say, that it simply does not concern me if you chose to give the throne to Laufey himself! He probably would have been crowned before you saw fit to give it to me."

"No, you're not in the line of succession though the only way the likes of Laufey would ever rule in Asgard would be over the dead bodies of everyone in this realm," Odin growled.

Loki considered that. "So you'd rather have me for king than Laufey. At this point, I really should just take what I can get. And it's nice to finally have some confirmation that I was never seriously being considered for the throne."

"Why would you even think that you would be a contender for the throne?" Odin demanded. "I'm beginning to suspect that there is something seriously wrong with you."

Loki laughed mirthlessly. "Beginning to? Oh, All-Father, but you do disappoint me. As for why I thought that…well 'you were both born to be kings' might have had something to do with it. Though I suppose you meant to banish me to that frozen wasteland first and rule through me as your puppet."

Odin stood there for a moment before his eyes widened. "_Loki_?"

"I thought we had already established that," Loki said, a little annoyed. He let the illusion fall. "Let's not talk in circles any more than we have to, All-Father."

Odin took a tentative step towards him. "I thought you were dead!"

"That does seem to happen a lot and yet you and Thor never learn," Loki replied. "Except not this time because when I tried to trick you into believing that I was a guard here to tell you about my own death you saw right through me and identified me as Loki just a few minutes ago. If your memory is truly that bad then maybe you should just give up the throne right now."

"No, I just hadn't realized that you were Loki until you mentioned what I told you about you and Thor both being born to be kings. Which was completely true and I wasn't talking about Jotunheim but Asgard. It's just that there could only be one king and I know you didn't think it was Thor but I acknowledged that he wasn't ready for the throne when I banished him to Midgard. It's just that it was only a few days after that that we lost you until after you tried to conquer Midgard so there was never really a chance to revisit the issue," Odin explained.

Loki didn't care to contemplate the obvious lies. "What do you mean you didn't realize it was me? I told you that Thor and that girl weren't around and that we had found a body and you said 'Loki.' You clearly realized it was me."

"I was actually identifying the body that you mentioned. If it wasn't Thor and it wasn't Jane Foster and I'm sure you wouldn't have drawn it out if it was that of an enemy I assumed it must have been Loki," Odin corrected. "And then while I was trying to digest that news you started yelling at me and I thought you were just a random guard and didn't really understand why this was happening but concluded you must have been a Loki supporter who was upset at his death."

"I don't have any supporters," Loki said, scoffing.

"You do, actually. You just never want to see it. Some of them I'm quite worried about, come to think of it, for just how they whitewash your actions," Odin informed him.

More lies.

"I am glad you're not dead, Loki, but I will admit that I do not know why you bothered to fake your death again-"

"The first time I didn't _fake _my death. I just quite unexpectedly survived," Loki insisted.

Odin nodded. "Right, that, but why bother faking your death now when you're just going to reveal yourself to me so soon? Were you just trying to hurt Thor? Did you have a sudden change of heart? That doesn't seem like you."

"Don't presume that you know me, apparently you didn't even recognize me when I was admitting who I was!"

"If I hadn't just been hit with the knowledge that my wayward son had died a hero saving his brother and the nine realms then maybe I would have been more perceptive," Odin suggested mildly.

Loki frowned. "I never said anything about how I supposedly died. For all you knew, Thor cut me down himself for betraying him."

"That may have been a possibility but after they killed your mother I can't imagine that you would actually betray him before Malekith was dead. There's a reason Thor trusted you with Jane Foster," Odin said. "And honestly, the thought of you betraying him was not the first one that came to mind."

"Then you're a fool because I did betray him by faking my own death and not seeing the battle through since I had no intention of coming back here to be caged," Loki declared.

"But why did you return then, Loki?" Odin asked again.

Loki looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, at first I was just going to pass myself off as a guard for awhile and gather more information but now that I've accidentally revealed myself to you I'm not going to have any choice but to contain you and take your place."

"What?" Odin's eye bulged. "Loki-"

"Don't worry. You did raise me somewhat as your own and Mother loved you so for that I won't kill you now," Loki interrupted.

"Just how do you propose to 'contain' me indefinitely, Loki?"

Loki just smirked and then he moved.


End file.
